Snow White and Rose Red
by Mimiko
Summary: Once upon a time there lived two perfect little girls, quiet, sweet, and loved by all. Well, that's all about to change.


In the untamed lands lived a poor widow, who had a small cottage in the woods. Her pride and joy was her garden, which contained two rose trees, one of which bloomed beautiful red roses, a crimson stain to rival drops of blood, and the other blossomed great white flowers, a pure and clean hue of snow. The woman also had two children, who were very much like the trees.  
  
One, she called Snow-White, and she was Kagome. The other, Sango, was called Rose-Red. They were happy children, and well behaved, always smiling and cheerful, like any good child should be. The only difference was Kagome was a year younger than her sister Sango, and was quieter, preferring to sit at home, reading and helping with the housework, while her sister would run around in the forest, singing with the songbirds, and chasing the butterflies.  
  
The two of them grew so close, that whenever they left the house, their hands would be intertwined, and they never wished to leave each other's side. Often, Kagome would smile brightly to Sango, and say, "We will not leave each other, right Rose-Red?" and Sango would reply, "Never, as long as we live, Snow-White!" Which would cause their mother to smile happily and state, "What one has, she must share with the other."  
  
Sango would often take Kagome to the forest with her, as they would run about in the forest, gathering berries and mixing them with weeds to make pretend salads, and though they were alone, nothing in the forest ever dared to harm them. The wildest boar was tamed at the feet of Kagome, and the shyest dove would in Sango's outstretched palm. The animals all trusted them, including the usually aloof hare, who would often eat cabbage straight from their hands.  
  
Even when they would stay in the forest until dark, and it was too ill lighted to see back home, they were not afraid, for even if an outsider would attack, the animals of the forest would protect them as they slept together on soft patches of moss until the dawn came. Their mother knew of this, and worried not, for no harm had ever come to her Snow-White and Rose- Red.  
  
One such night, the two of them had awoken together to the sun in their eyes, and saw a lovely little girl, with pale skin, shining silver hair, and a white dress, who merely looked at them with a warm smile before walking off. The two of them looked around, and discovered they were dangerously close to a cliff, and they would surely have fallen in if they'd moved about too much in their sleep. Their mother told them that she knew it was an angel, watching over her good children, and keeping them safe.  
  
As mentioned before, Kagome loved to stay at home and help with the housework, but Sango was an avid cleaner too. Together, they kept the house so spotless and orderly, that looking into it was a pleasure, and they took delight in this. In Spring, and Fall, the two of them worked together, but in the Summer and the Winter one girl would bear more responsibility than the other.  
  
In Summer, Sango would care for the house, and every Summer morning she made a wreath, and placed one of the roses from each tree into it, and presented it to her mother in bed. In Winter, Kagome would light the fire, and would hang the kettle over it. The kettle itself shone like gold, though it was only brass, for Kagome polished it so finely.  
  
In Winter, in the evening, which was when the snow would fall, their mother would tell Kagome, "Go, Snow-White, and bolt our door."  
  
And they would sit around the fire, where their mother would read aloud from a large book of fairy tales, while the girls would spin their yarn and work on needle projects. With them, was a white dove, and a baby kit, both of which would listen to her reading, until everyone was asleep, and then their mother would carry Kagome and Sango to bed, and prepare for the new day.  
  
This went on for years, until the girls were 15, and 16, when their mother would often fall to sleep herself, and the two would carry her into her bed, and give the now grown kitsune a pat on the head, and would smile brightly at the dove.  
  
And, this is as it was, until one night, when they had their first visitor of the winter. They had been sitting around the fire, their mother preparing to read, when a knock sounded at the bolted door, and the person sounded as if they wished to be brought in.  
  
"Snow-White," Mama said to Kagome, "go, and open the door, for it must surely be a poor man caught in the cold."  
  
And go the girl did, unlocking the door, and opening it, to find a bit of a surprise waiting for her on the porch.  
  
AN: Well, I started this forever ago, and I think I'm going to continue it. Right now, I'm editing A Demon's Worth. I was recently . . . inspired . . . to make it a bit easier for viewing. So those little spelling mistakes and grammar errors I've been too lazy to deal with are going to be getting fixed. Also, I'm re-writing a lot of the chapters, to make them longer, and more detailed. Thus, no more new ones for a while, though the revised version of the chapters should be a good read. However, if anyone would like to be a beta reader for the new ones, that would help a lot.  
  
As for this story, yes, I'm doing another fairy tale. Heh, what can I say, I'm addicted to the things. If you've ever read the original Snow-White and Rose-Red you probably know what's going to happen. Well, you do, but really, you don't. I'm going to expand on what happens, and this is really the only chapter that's going to be totally faithful to the story.  
  
In case you're wondering, in a situation where I write a story based off of another, I read that story like, three times, and then look at it constantly when writing the next chapter. In some cases I don't come back to the story for weeks. ^^; But, whenever I do start on the new chapter, I really can only remember the basics of what I need to write, so it comes out better that way, I think. Not as predictable.  
  
Anyways, as usual, short first chapter, but expect longer ones to come out next. The original story was actually longer than most Grimm fairy tales, however, it was still short. All in all, this is a short story, not a novel, so don't complain too much, mmkay? 


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